Being almost seven months to the day that I left the cold and rain-sodden shores of my beloved Wales for my Latin American adventure; it has seen its ups and downs which was to be expected. Some I have documented, some I haven´t. The truth is, upon arriving in Uruguay, after some heavy days and nights in Rio and seven months of travelling just a bit too fast from country to country, I was ready to come home - shattered an exhausted, mentally and physically. I had almost had enough, worn down by my own design. So I decided Uruguay was [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Paraguay, where you´d be hard-pushed to find a tourist anywhere, I then crossed on foot the noisy, bustling friendship bridge at the border and over to Brazil; the total opposite of its neighbour. Different language, different culture, marauding gangs of picture-hungry tourists and a much more expensive day-to-day cost of travelling than other Latin American countries. The first difference that gave me cause for concern was the language difference, I had heard from others that it would be OK to understand because of its similarities with Spanish... Then I heard them speak [View Full Entry]

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As the TAM 701 flight I had boarded in Cochabamaba, Bolivia, descended down through the heaving, patient clouds and into the realm of Asunción, Paraguay, I got my first glimpse of this unknown, unpopular country through the small plexiglass window adjacent to my economy seat. And what did I see? The principal feature that struck me was the outrageous number of football pitches the length and breadth of the city. It was like a deck of scuffed light-green cards had been thrown flippantly onto the dark green landscape and scattered completely randomly, but everywhere, and of all ages and [View Full Entry]

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It brings a smile to my face to inform you that I now feel happier after the dull time I spent in Ecuador pining and longing for Colombia. Peru has lifted my spirits easily, like a phoenix from the flames and tempered my ever-changing moods. I have triumphantly returned to the country I visited briefly last year. And I feel I now know it better this time, with improved Spanish, more native friends, more casual clothes (gone are the chunky fleeces and ubiquitous zip-off trousers with 27 different pockets) and I'm generally just a bit less green and wet behind the [View Full Entry]

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OK, OK, OK... That's probably being very harsh on this probably very wonderful country & anyone who's been there is surely cursing me right now for this outrageous headline. The truth is I am still missing Colombia and its people tremendously. You all know the feeling... You go on a great holiday for a few weeks, have a wonderful time somewhere, maybe drinking & dancing & tanning, you come back home and soon you have to go to work... Then those horrible gut-wrenching holiday blues kick in. And it's like someone's punched you in the stomach and you are winded, [View Full Entry]

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And so...I left Bogota on a bus to Medellin for reasons I now can't remember. I spent three days in Medellin with 3 friends I met on the bus - they were going to Medellin for a 10 day book fair, and have promised to show me further around Bogota upon my return there. I went to see my mate Patrick at the Casa Kiwi before he left for Quito with his bad back, and I did very little else in those three days. *** Before I forget, I have to give special mention to something here that really unhinges [View Full Entry]

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Looking at the beginning of my last entry, I think I was myself being a little over-sensational about what goes on in Colombia. Probably just playing up to the ususal stereotypical fears of the ignorant public at large, in order to hype-up the story. And I apologise to all Colombians for doing so. This country is truly something else, the level of warmth of the people I have only ever encountered once before - in India. Almost everywhere you go, the people are helpful, friendly, curious, charming and truly alive. In stark contrast to it's neighbour, Venezuela -which is s [View Full Entry]

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Colombia? Well, as you all know, this country gets some real bad press. Awful in fact. And OK, if you are a politician or businessman, or even related to one, you are probably going to get kidnapped, threatened with death or murdered at some point in your life. It has the highest amount of kidnappings for any country on earth. If you score an own goal for the Colombian football team you may get shot dead in a bar (although that famous story is actually massively misconstrued). The country supplies 80% of the world's cocaine and has one of the [View Full Entry]

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That´s what my home city of Swansea was once called and it´s an apt description of Caracas I´d say, although Swansea is a lot prettier. I flew into Caracas, after a one hour stop in Colombia, got my backpack and rode an expensive taxi into the city centre after dark. Caracas is a kind of edgy, freaky, bustling, modern, dirty, loud and dangerous city that probably deserves its reputation - though you´ll be OK if you use common sense and take the usual precautions of not going certain places after dark and not flashing your swanky Ipod and new camera [View Full Entry]

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Soon after the last posting I did a few more reasonably constructive things, and here´s a quick rundown/summary of what came to be after leaving David: (You read me wrong audience, for your information ´David´ is a town , not a guy - let´s get that straight for starters) BOQUETE: a lovely, sweet, small and charming town an hour from David in the Chiriqui highlands. Rivers run through it, with a lush green landscape, it has no humidity, a lack of travellers & a few sheep up in the hills - I loved it , it reminded me of home. [View Full Entry]

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